


Blood for Hurt

by RegalGirl94



Series: Blood [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/F, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, Suspicions, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26900050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalGirl94/pseuds/RegalGirl94
Summary: 6th in Blood Series. Months since the Deadpool incident, the gang is ready and anxious to start Senior year. The mysterious Theo character waltzes back into Beacon Hills, trying to wedge himself into the pack and drive them apart. But for what ends? The dangerous Dread Doctors also pose a threat they've never seen before, to the most unexpected victims and secrets long hidden.
Relationships: Jordan Parrish/Sonia Mortem, Liam Dunbar/Beth Hansen, Malia Tate/Kira Yukimura, Scott McCall/Jessie Hansen, Scott McCall/Original Female Character(s), Stiles Stilinski/Georgie Mortem
Series: Blood [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1278386





	1. Senior Year

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry it's been so long. I kind of slipped into a depression slump and then as crazy as things are in 2020, really just got worst and harder to do anything I enjoy. But I'm working through it, and trying to work through this story and make it great. Please let me know what you think. I re-proofread this chapter and realized I'd cut it off early before. Chapter two will be up later today hopefully. This story isn't finished yet either but I'll work hard to get it done and ready to post before November.

"Okay, slow down."

Beth turned wide incredulous eyes onto her sister in the passenger's seat. "I'm going 30! You can _run_ twenty times faster than that. How does this not feel glacial to you?"

Jessie chuckled at her. "I mean, you're approaching a stop sign."

Beth finally noticed the big red sign that read 'STOP' and slammed her foot on the break, causing the car to stop with a bit of a squeak. With a blush, Beth slowly drove through. "Right. Okay. What's next?"

"Wanna try pulling over safely?" Jessie suggested. After agreeing, she talked Beth through all the steps she'd have to know for the test. "Are you nervous about the test?"

"Kinda." Beth shrugged as she tried to make a three-point-turn. She blushed again as she hit the sidewalk a bit and had to reverse, but there were no cars around them. "I mean, I'll be excited to have a license. I even overheard mom and dad considering passing down their car to me and getting a new one for themselves. But still... don't like tests. I don't do well on tests."

Jessie rolled her eyes with a grin. "Geez, one mass poisoning by an assassin and you're scarred for life."

The girls laughed together at that statement. Beth lamented, "You know what I mean. I know all of this, but once I have to get tested on it all by some stern-faced teacher with a clip board, it's like it all goes out the window."

"Kira's dad is the one doing the tests at school," Jessie pointed out. "Hardly stern-faced. And just ignore the clip board. And you can always get a lesson with Ken first, so you're used to him and the course. Malia is getting lessons. She's just as nervous."

"Until recently, Malia lived in the wilderness as a coyote," Beth pointed out. "Everything about human interaction and society makes her nervous. I can't imagine how she's handling waiting on the grades from summer school."

"I bet she did great," Jessie assured her. "She and Lydia worked really hard, and she'll officially be a Senior with us. What else you got?"

"Are you excited about tonight?" Beth said wryly as she kept checking her mirrors.

Jessie narrowed her eyes at her sister. "Don't change the subject. I can practically taste the anxiety in the air."

"I thought only werewolves sense emotions," Beth guessed.

"I'm your sister, I don't need Scott to tell me that you're nervous about something other than driving and Malia's reintroduction into civilization," Jessie told her. "Is it the full moon?"

Beth blushed at the reminder of her new boyfriend, Liam Dunbar. He had been a new Freshman transfer last year and got in the way of a killer wendigo. In his desperation to save the younger boy, Scott had bitten him. Now that Scott was an Alpha, Liam was now his Beta. It had been a rough go of it for the new wolf, and Beth had been adamant in helping him through it as his friend. That had turned into more than friendship. But the new wolf still struggled with the full moon from time to time.

Beth sighed. "Scott and Stiles are chaining him up tonight after last month. I thought he was getting a handle on it. He calls me when he needs to, and he's always managed to calm down."

"Until he went streaking mid-transformation," Jessie chortled.

"Don't laugh!" Beth complained. "He was really embarrassed. And now he feels like Scott doesn't trust him."

"Scott trusts him," Jessie said. "It's Stiles that doesn't trust him."

"Stiles is just used to chaining supernatural creatures up somehow," Beth grumbled. "Be thankful you got to skip that by transforming in Portland."

"It didn't go so differently for me anyway," Jessie quipped. "But try not to worry about this stuff. Scott's watching Liam to make sure he's going to be okay. If they need to, they'll call us. And Liam's been doing well for the most part. But remember it took all of us time to get the kind of control we have now."

"You're right," Beth said. "I can't believe we're going to be Sophomores and all you guys are going to be _Seniors._ And then you're going to graduate and move out and—and move away and we'll never see each other. What if something happens?"

"It's not like we're going to the other side of the world!" Jessie laughed at her sister's worries. "We're a phone call away. Scott is looking at UC Davis, I've applied there, Berkeley, and Stanford, waiting to hear. Everyone is going to be close by. Scott and I have already talked about it, we don't want to branch out too much and lose track of each other. We also agreed to come back to Beacon Hills for every break while we're in school."

"Sounds serious," Beth commented. "Are you guys going to live together?"

"Depending on where I end up, that's the plan," Jessie said, blushing at the thought of the future. "Stiles somehow wormed his way in there too. He has his plan – no one gets left behind."

"Except us," Beth mumbled in good humor.

"You guys can always join us when it's your turn for college," Jessie said. "Don't be in such a rush. It's your Sophomore year. You and Liam are going great. You're gonna tryout for the swim team and make it, for sure. Nothing bad is going to happen. If it does, I'm sure you guys can handle anything until we can help. Connor agreed to stay in Beacon Hills. Gavin lives here too. There's the Sheriff and Melissa, maybe even Alex, though I have no idea what his plans are. He's still trying to figure out what exactly Hilda did to him."

Alex and his family had moved to Beacon Hills in order to get close to Jessie for her evil aunt Wanda's benefit. Alex had gotten closest to her, and despite his best efforts not to, had fallen in love with her. He tried to pull out of the plots against her, but his strong-willed father wouldn't let him get away. They even kidnapped Jessie's family – Beth included. Jessie had eventually forgiven all of them. But she never returned Alex's feelings. She had been with Isaac at the time, and then later fell in love with Scott – who loved her back.

Alex never held this against her, and remained her loyal friend, dedicated to her protection. After Jennifer killed her, it was he who brought her the pure vampire blood that saved her life. It was he that took her to Portland to complete the transformation under the protection of her Guardian, Connor, and her long-lost extended Grimm family. And Aunt Sienna, and a cop cousin named Nick. He had coached her and watched over her through it all, even when she didn't have emotions.

But then a hexenbiest – a German branch of evil witches – had come to attack her, and ended up slitting Alex's throat, killing him. This tragedy sent Jessie into a spiral, and once her emotions were locked away, she heard Lydia's banshee scream and returned to Beacon Hills to help them with the Oni and Nogitsune. While dealing with the Deadpool at the beginning of the year, Alex had been revealed to be returned from the dead. Hilda and others had stolen his body and turned him into the male equivalent of a hexenbiest – and sauberbiest. He was now back in Beacon Hills, dealing with the fallout of what he was now.

"Yeah, that was a tough break," Beth muttered as she turned into their neighborhood. "But at least he's alive."

"Yeah," Jessie agreed. "The point is, you'll be okay. Besides, it's been months since the last supernatural showdown."

Beth groaned and she parked in front of their house, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the seat. "Why'd you say that? Now you've jinxed us."

Jessie just laughed.

* * *

The full moon was high in the sky as Scott lounged on the Jeep's hood as Stiles bent over a map of Northern California. He popped his pen open and circled a few spots. "All right, so I found some cool two bedrooms in the Mission District, but they're pretty expensive. A couple in Haight and Ashbury. Also expensive."

Scott wasn't paying as much attention as he should have been, but he still contributed. "What about Berkeley? Don't a lot of students live around there?"

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, yeah, we could try Nob Hill. But the Jeep would probably burn through a lot of clutches."

"You're bringing the Jeep?" Scott gave his best friend an incredulous look.

Stiles gave him one back. How could he suggest he _not_ bring the Jeep? "You know the plan, okay. No one gets left behind. That's the plan. Lydia's not gonna have a problem getting into Stanford. Neither is Jessie, or any of the other schools she's applied to. Georgie is pretty much settled on Davis like you. Kira's thinking USF. Malia's, uh, gonna, you know, she'll figure something out, okay. The plan's perfect."

Scott smirked at Stiles' determination. "Or we could also wait until we actually get into college and then figure out where to live."

Stiles glared at him humorously. "I have a vision, dude. Okay? And it is a beautiful vision. Don't ruin the vision. Okay, we can check out the East Bay. Haven't looked at Oakland yet, you know." He paused as he noticed Scott staring up at the full moon. "You all right? You starting to feel it?"

Scott leisurely pursed his lips and shook his head. "No. Just thinking."

Stiles finally put his pen down. "About what?"

"Senior year." Scott shrugged. He wondered what would happen.

Stiles scoffed. "Senior year, come on, that's, that's... That's nothing. That's going to be easy."

Scott hummed as he tried to think of a better way to explain where his head was at. "It's more like something Deaton told me once. You ever hear of regression to the mean?"

Stiles slowly shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"It was his way of saying that life can't ever be all bad or all good. You know, eventually things have to come back to the middle," Scott explained. "So, think about the last few months. Things have been good, right? But not amazing."

"Yeah, but no one's tried to kill us in six months either," he quipped back.

Scott nodded, agreeing. "Right. We've been pretty much in the middle for a while. Which means, at some point, the scale has to tip one way or the other. Things are gonna get really good again..." He trailed off, looking up at the moon.

"Or really bad," Stiles finished. Booming thunder punctuated his sentence fragment for him. "Think it's been long enough?"

Liam's distant voice chimed in. "Yes!"

Stiles looked back at the beta – aggressively chained to a large tree behind them – with annoyance. "Hey. Trying to have an adult conversation over here."

As the slightly older boys approached, Liam muttered. "All right, you're two years older than me. And I'm fine. Just let me go." He flailed a little under his restraints, rattling the chains.

"It's not that we don't trust you," Scott told him patiently.

"It's that _I_ don't trust you," Stiles pointed out.

Ever the patient one, Scott added. "But after that last full moon..."

Liam groaned in embarrassment. "It was one slip up."

"Slip up?" Stiles guffawed. "A dozen calls to the Sheriff's Department about a "monstrous dog-boy" running around the streets of Beacon Hills naked." That's a slip up?"

Scott frowned. "Why were you naked?"

Liam flushed. "It was really hot out that night, okay. Let me go."

"You sure you're okay?" Scott checked on his beta.

"It won't happen again," he nodded.

"You're in complete and total control?" Scott checked.

"Yeah. Complete and total," Liam promised, keeping his heartbeat as steady as possible.

Scott and Stiles gave in and undid his chains, scooping them up to bring them back to the Jeep. Liam staggered a little by the tree and slowly unclenched his fists, staring at the crescent shaped cuts in his palm from his claws. He really needed to get 'complete and total control.'

* * *

Deputy Parrish was stuck on the desk again, answering phones again. But it had never been as hectic as tonight with the storm rolling in and person after person calling to complain about their power going out. "Yes, ma'am, we're having trouble with the power as well. It's most likely related to the storm."

Stilinski barked into the station. "Parrish! Check the backup generator and make sure it's fueled. And Parrish... Answer the phone."

Jordan stewed in his frustration before finally marching into his boss's office. "Six months. Six months of directing traffic, doing courthouse security, serving subpoenas, and today I finished a total organizational overhaul of evidence lock-up. Now I'm stuck behind the front desk while there's downed powerlines, a jackknifed tractor-trailer and reports of gunshots downtown. I don't know what I did to lose your trust, but you need every available deputy out there."

Stilinski patiently took in his words and thought on it for a moment. "Okay, got something for you."

Parrish was relieved for a moment as the Sheriff handed him a paper. Until he read it. "A noise complaint?"

"Yeah," Stilinski said smugly. "Somebody would make a noise. Somebody else complained about it. Check it out."

* * *

The wind howled like a horde of wild animals as Parrish approached a decrepit looking house. The door was ajar, so he pushed his way inside, flashlight first. "Hello? This is the Beacon County Sheriff's Department."

He could hear a loud thud and followed it into an empty room in the house with a cement wall at the back. "Hello?" The thudding was coming from right behind the wall. Was someone in there? "Hello!" The noise continued, like someone was trying to beat the wall down from inside. Parrish slid against it, palms smacking against the surface. "Hey! Hey, can you hear me?" There was nothing but pounding on the other side. "Okay, okay, I'm going to get you out of there. I'm coming right back. Just hang on."

He raced out to his car to grab a large hammer to get through the wall and sprinted back inside, smacking the wall as he tried to yell inside, "I'm here, I'm here! Back up if you can."

Jordan started to bang the hammer into the wall, chipping it away. When a hole was created, he paused to try and look in to see who was in there. He was about to call into the wall when an inky black fist with glowing blue claws – that didn't truly look like claws – shot out of the hole and clasped around his neck. Jordan choked as the hand was followed by a tall figure that broke through the wall with a loud growl. The man was transformed enough for the deputy to make out werewolf features, teeth jutting out of his lips and crazed eyes.

"Not a werewolf, but you're something," the beast muttered, voice distorted. He dropped Jordan against the wall, sliding down to the floor. "Now, you're no ordinary creature, Deputy. But then, neither am I. Not tonight. I'll let you live if you answer one question. Where is Scott McCall?"

Jordan schooled his features defiantly. "Never heard of him."

* * *

"Is it a party?" Liam asked from the back seat of the jeep.

"It's not a party," Stiles droned, annoyed with the younger boy's whining about not knowing what exactly they were doing tonight.

"Then what's at midnight?"

"Your bedtime," Stiles quipped.

"Why aren't the girls going?"

Stiles groaned. Would he ever shut up? "They're meeting us there, okay? And just stop asking questions, all right?"

"It's a senior thing," Scott said patiently. He turned back to look at his beta. "You'll know when you're a senior." He turned back, fiddling with his phone while he tried to text Jessie that they were on their way. So far, all his texts had failed to send. "You guys having trouble with your phones?"

As soon as he'd asked, the jeep spluttered to a stop, lights and engine shutting off. Stiles let out a loud sigh. "What the hell?"

Liam asked, "You out of gas?"

"No, it's electrical," Stiles lamented, getting out of the jeep. "Probably the alternator again."

Scott followed him out and helped him open up the hood and his eyes widened when he saw that nearly every part of the engine was encased in a cast of duct tape. "Whoa, that's a lot of duct tape." At Stiles' kicked puppy look, he added, "Kidding. We'll fix it."

Stiles sighed. "I know, it's just the last night of summer, you know, so I wanted to make sure everyone was there tonight."

"We'll make it. You got any tools?" Scott asked. Stiles nodded and helped up a thin roll of duct tape. Scott shook his head in amusement, and they set to work on whatever the problem was.

Thunder rolled above them as they worked. Liam was starting to put his earphones in when a flash of light caught his attention down the road behind the jeep. "Guys..." His eyes widened when he saw another strike of lightning hit the road just a bit closer to them. "Guys!"

"Yeah, give us a second, please," Stiles huffed from under the hood.

"Liam, stay in the car, okay?" Scott added. They were startled themselves when the next second a lightning bolt struck the ground just behind them. "That was close."

"Very close," Stiles breathed. And then like Frankenstien's experiment, the jeep roared back to life.

Liam poked his head out the window. "Can we go now?"

* * *

"Thanks for the ride," Lydia hummed as she checked her lipstick in the mirror of Alex's passengers' seat. "I have no idea why my car decided to spaz out like that."

"No problem," Alex said in his deep accent. "You can't miss Senior night."

Lydia pursed her lips and nodded. She covertly kept her eyes forward as she asked him, "What were you doing out and about so close anyway?"

"There's a boxing gym over on Haigh street," he shrugged. "It stays open late."

"Sticking to your more human means of fighting, huh," she commented.

"Well, I don't really have a handle on the supernatural means other than a few broken windows and flying objects when I lose control," he remarked.

"Compared to what I have seen, I'd say you have better control than most first-time supernatural creatures," she assured him.

He gave her a side look, smirking as he corrected her, "Actually, I'm technically classified as parahuman. Not supernatural creature. Forgive me for attempting to teach the genius Lydia Martin something."

Lydia smiled to herself. "I'm sure there are things I don't know. I've got time to catch up."

"Where are we picking up Malia, again?" he asked, still smirking.

Lydia directed him to the spot Malia had last texted her that she'd be. She gaped when she saw Malia with her dad and a group of others trying to lift a fallen tree out of the street. Only, Malia was quite obviously doing most of the lifting. "Is she…"

"Yep," Alex smacked his lips as he turned into the parking lot to wait for her.

Malia approached with her dad, the adoptive one, who eyed Alex suspiciously. "I thought Lydia was driving."

"Her car had trouble, sir," Alex spoke respectively to the parent. "I was nearby. I'm also available to pick them up and get them home safely if they don't have a ride back."

The man nodded sternly. "All right then."

Malia gave her dad a quick cheek kiss and hopped in the back seat of Alex's truck, fiddling with her phone when she noticed Lydia's eyes on her. "What?"

"Did you find out yet?" Lydia asked.

Malia tried to seem optimistic. "They're gonna email me."

"I'm sure they will," Alex said, driving towards the school

Malia gave Lydia a look. "You told him?"

Lydia looked at least a bit guilty. "In passing. Maybe. But don't worry. I'm sure you did great. You worked really hard."

* * *

Parrish was startled awake by the pain still in his chest, the open wounds practically giving off smoke like flames. He groaned as he weakly reached for his radio, coughing into it, "Dispatch. Officer..." he cut off to groan again, "Officer down."

There was no answer, except for empty static. The static seemed to take a shape and sound, as a deep feminine voice answered. But not one he thought he'd ever heard before. But one that sounded familiar, as if he'd heard it all his life.

"Jordan don't be scared. I'm here."

A figure was approaching him, blurry in his tired eye. He blinked at her, trying to focus his sight of her. She had long dark hair, green eyes, pink lips. She was wearing some kind of robed dress. She looked as tired as he felt. But she also looked concerned for him. She knelt in front of him. "I'm right here with you." She cupped his face with one hand, the only gently lying on the wounds of his chest. It should have hurt, but her touch only felt warm and healing. "Stay with me. You'll be all right."

"Parrish?" he heard the Sheriff calling out, his blurry image in the entry washing away the strange woman. "Parrish?"

Everything went black as his boss found him.

* * *

"Okay, okay, easy, easy," Melissa grunted as she and Stilinski set Jordan out on the metal table in the deserted morgue. "You said you were gonna keep him on desk duty."

Stilisnki eyed his bleeding deputy, frustrated. "Yeah, it was just a minor noise complaint."

Melissa eyed the wounded man. "He's not on fire, is he?"

He shook his head. "Not that I know of. You know, maybe it's part of his healing process?" referencing the smoke coming off of his skin.

Suddenly, Jordan gasped sharply and shot up off the table, eyes glowing amber and growling.

The Sheriff instantly had his gun out and was standing in front of Melissa. Jordan didn't look totally himself at the moment. But his growling petered out of its own and Melissa gently led the Sheriff to put his gun down. "It's okay. It's okay. Right, Deputy?"

Jordan seemed to be coming out of a trance. "Scott. We need to find Scott."

* * *

Jessie, Georgie, Lydia, and Malia were waiting around in the school for the boys to show up. They were running late.

"They're late," Georgie mumbled the obvious, pacing with her thumbnail in her teeth.

"The storm is causing a bunch of traffic," Lydia pointed out the obvious. "They'll be here."

"Is anyone's phones working?" Malia asked idly, hers in her hand.

Jessie shook her head. "No, mine's gotten no signal all night."

"Maybe we should look for them." Georgie worried her lip.

The girls all shared a look at her apprehension.

* * *

"His claws were different," Jordan told the Sheriff and Melissa after telling them about his attack. "Twice the size of Scott's. More like talons."

Melissa titled her head. "If that's the worst part, that doesn't sound too bad."

Jordan was still frowning. "It's worse. They did something to me. I don't know how to describe it other than it felt as if the life was being drawn out of me through them. Through the claws."

"And now he's looking for Scott?" she asked, worried for her son.

He nodded grimly. "Which got me thinking about what this guy can do. The rule is you have to kill an Alpha to steal their power, right?"

"I'll bet it's different for Scott," the Sheriff said.

"You can't steal a True Alpha's power," Melissa nodded.

Jordan didn't look reassured. "I think this guy can."

None of them noticed Liam listening in or racing off towards the school.

* * *

Kira finally made it into the school, drenched by the rain, but smiling when she finally saw her girlfriend after a summer away in New York. The girls instantly embraced, Kira still a little more awkward in front of the others, but glad to hug Malia close. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Malia said, awkwardly. She was more wary of verbal affection than physical. She then frowned as she heard something.

"Malia?" Kira questioned.

"Someone's coming. Someone fast," she said and then she was turned around, slamming someone to the ground by their chest.

"Jesus, it's Liam!" Georgie complained, pulling Malia off of him.

Liam was panting hard. "Scott's in trouble."

Jessies eyes instantly started glowing bright cobalt blue. Her voice was deadpan as she asked him, "What?"

Liam was quick to tell them all he had heard at the hospital, and then Jessie was off like a speeding bullet, sensing out Scott's whereabouts. She led the herd – sans Lydia – to a walkway under the stadium where Stiles was knocked out against the wall with another crumpled form next to him. A monstrous looking creature had its glowing blue talons deeply embedded in Scott's gut, the true Alpha choking in pain.

"Scott!" Jessie shrieked, eyes cobalt and teeth lengthening out.

She started him, causing him to look over and lock eyes with her. She sagged when she saw Scott's eyes begin to glow red again. He turned back to his attacker and pushed him off, twisting his arm so hard it broke, snapping his fingers out without the talons. With a growl, Scott ripped the no longer glowing claws out of his stomach and tossed them onto the floor with a clatter.

"I don't know who you are or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice. You can stay…"

"And I'll kill you," Jessie growled, not letting her guard down.

Scott ignored her threat. "Or you can run."

The defeat man looked around, seeing how outnumbered he was. Georgie glared at him, having seen Stiles groaning, holding his head, at the wall. "I'd run."

Taking the advice, the weird wolf tucked his tail and ran off into the rain. Georgie ran to Stile's side, ignoring the other boy with him, and helped him onto his feet. Scott barely had a second to check on his friend before Jessie was frantically checking him to see that his wounds had healed. No one let relief come over them as the stranger approached with an easy smile.

"You don't remember me, do you? I guess I look a little different since the fourth grade."

Scott gaped. "Theo?"

"You know him?" Malia asked.

"They used to," the stranger, Theo, spoke up. "Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again. Couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, just couldn't believe it. Not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha."

"What do you want?" Stiles asked, leaning on Georgie.

"I came back to Beacon Hills. Back home with my family. Because I want to be a part of your pack."

Jessie and Stiles had quickly dismissed themselves from the stranger. Lydia was waiting after all. Jessie told Liam he could go keep Beth company as she waited for their parents to make it home through the storm from the hospital and bakery. Stiles was getting angsty at the whole ordeal.

"We haven't seen this kid in years. You don't find that highly suspicious?"

"He has a point," Jessie added. "The last long-lost person to show up out of nowhere was Gerard."

Stiles excited pointed to her, wordlessly thanking her for her support, with his arm around Georgie's shoulders.

"What about Alex?" Scott pointed out. "And Cora?"

Jessie waved her hand dismissively. "Coming back from the dead doesn't count."

"I'm kind of more concerned about the guy who just tried to kill me," Scott told them.

They were all cut off when Malia's phone vibrated, and she whipped it out to study the incoming message on the screen as all watched around her with bated breath. She smiled widely. "I'm in. I passed. I'm officially a senior."

Everyone cheered for her and Kira was quick to hug her tightly in congratulations. They were cut short by a stern Lydia marching up to them. "Thank God. The whole senior class is here. Are we doing this or not?"

The group finally congregated altogether to make their way to the library. Jessie couldn't believe the tradition when Scott told her about it. It seemed like some kind of unity practice. She was actually excited to leave their mark on this place that had become a home for them all for the last couple years.

They waited patiently in line, talking about the classes and Stiles' vision. Willfully ignoring the debacle with the creature and Theo. Another girl from their year was putting books aside to reveal more of the bookshelf. Georgie went first, accepting the marker from the girl and smiling as she scribbled her initials down. **G.M.**

She handed the marker to Stiles and waited against the railing. Stiles poised to write his own down, but paused when he saw, in bold black, the initials; **D.H.**

Derek Hale had been the only other beta wolf they'd known when Scott was bitten. He had returned to Beacon Hills after his sister Laura's, death. Another in a long line of Hale deaths since a fire killed most of his family years ago. His Uncle Peter had been the Alpha to bite Scott after all. Derek had coached Scott, guided him. He had even become family to Jessie – seeing as how his family had been close with her parents before they all died. Almost at the same time as their supernatural roller coaster had started, he had met his old high school girlfriend again, Marissa Jude, who worked with Jessie's mom at her own mother's bakery before Paula Hansen bought it off them. They had fallen in love once again. Then Marissa had discovered she was pregnant. Derek was ecstatic – or as much as Derek Hale could show – about having a family again. After everything with the Deadpool had calmed down, Derek proposed. Marissa said yes, and they decided to move out of Beacon Hills for their baby's safety.

That surly werewolf that Stiles had bickered with for years was now a father. Since baby Talia Jessica Hale was born a couple of weeks ago. Marissa had forced him to send them all pictures and arrange for a visit when they saw fit to travel with her. He seemed so much happier than he had ever been before. To think, not long ago, he was where Stiles was now, marking his initials onto a bookshelf, looking to the future. Stiles fought to remain as hopeful as he believed Derek had been, and wrote his own initials down; **S.S.**

Lydia took the marker from him after he joined Georgie, taking her hand. She wrote hers down in looping writing; **L.M.** She capped the pen and handed it to Kira, who handled it warily.

"This isn't vandalism, is it?"

Lydia pursed her lips. "Not technically."

Kira quickly wrote down **K.Y** and handed the pen to Malia. Malia hesitated after the **M** , wondering whether she should write **H** or **T**. Hale was the name she was born with. But Tate was the name she grew up with. Smiling softly to herself, she finished it off with **T** confidently and handed the pen off to Jessie.

Jessie had a similar issue with her last initial. She was born Sange. She grew up as Hansen. She descended from Grimm. She looked to Scott, the question in her eyes. He told her with his – do what feels right. His comforting hand squeezed her shoulder as she wrote out quickly, **J.H.**

She stuck close to Scott's side when it was his turn. He gave her a small loving smile as he wrote a little plus sign next to her name, adding his initials; **S.M.** She blushed at his certainty. He always told her he would always love her. It seemed silly for a couple in High School. But they were different.

She kept by his side as he seemed to really think, pause, and then adopt a sad smile as he wrote another set of initials under theirs.

**A.A.**

Everyone noticed and turned somber as Scott handed off the marker and he and Jessie joined the group. Jessie tucked herself into his side, thinking of their fallen friend. Brave, caring, a warrior. She had given her life for the sake of her friends and used her dying breath to try and help them even more. She was Scott's first love, Lydia's best friend.

"She would have been with us," Stiles said quietly as he wrapped his arm around Georgie's shoulders.

Lydia stared at the shelf, smiling softly, in remembrance. "She still is."

* * *

"So, what were you so worried about?" Georgie asked as she and Stiles returned home to the Stilisnki house. She was referring to the many messages reminding her of the time and warning her to power through the storm. "You really needed everyone at the school tonight."

"I could have gone without Liam," Stiles muttered.

"You know what I mean." Georgie laughed at his candor. "Talk to me."

Stiles pushed his fingers through his growing hair. "I asked my dad the other day about his high school friends. Guess how many he still talks to?" He scoffed at the amount. "None. Not a single one. You know, these were his best friends and he just says he lost touch with them, you know. So, I started thinking about things, like I always do."

"Obsessively," she drawled, crawling onto the bed to sit next to him.

"Yeah," he agreed. "And so, I'm thinking, what if... What if Scott's my best friend now you know, but he's not my best friend for life?"

"That happens sometimes," Georgie told him, taking his hand. "People grow up, grow apart."

"Because we let it happen," Stiles argued passionately. "You know, that's what I'm saying. How come when we graduate, we're just expected to go our separate ways? If I've already found the best people in my life, why aren't I not trying to stay with them, you know?"

"I thought that's what you were trying to do," Georgie said softly. "Trying to stay with us. That's your vision."

"Don't mock the vision."

Georgie smiled indulgently at him. "I'm not. I like the vision, Stiles. Especially if we're together in it. It's okay to not want to lose all your friends after senior year."

"And I hope they don't want to lose me either," he murmured, looking into her eyes.

"They don't. I don't," she whispered, tilting her head up so her lips pressed into his.

* * *

"I guess mom's still at the hospital," Scott commented as he let himself and Jessie into the dark McCall house. "Gavin might be asleep."

"We'll keep it down," Jessie grinned. "We're Seniors now."

Scott smiled at her and pulled her into his arms. "With you – it'll be the best year yet."


	2. Instinct

"Remember, for intramuscular injections in the hind leg..."

Jessie watched with a wistful smile on her face as Deaton walked Scott through giving a little dog an injection. But Scott needed little direction, knowing exactly what he was doing.

"Stay clear of the sciatic nerve."

"Excellent," Deaton said as he watched Scott's work. "Aspirate back to make sure you haven't hit a vein. Then just keep the needle still."

Scott began to pull back the needle when the dog yelped and bit at his hand. Scott pulled his hand back with a quiet, "Ow," as the dog growled at him.

"That did not hurt," Jessie denied with a grin, causing Scott to playfully pout at her.

Deaton laughed. "He's a little one, but his teeth are still sharp."

"Sorry, buddy," he told the dog as he picked him up off the steel table. "Come on. Good boy!" He walked over to the doorway where a little girl was anxiously waiting for her pet. "Here you go, Stephanie."

The girl gave him a toothy smile as she took her dog in her arms, saying in a cute little voice, "Thank you, Dr. McCall."

Scott paused, but smiled bashfully. "I'm not a doctor yet."

Jessie smiled at the interaction. She was so proud of Scott when he told her he would be going to school to become a veterinarian. Like Deaton. Deaton was even on board and promised Scott a job at the clinic when he graduated or a recommendation to any job he applied for. Scott was so at ease with the animals, helping them, healing them. It fit him so well.

After Stephanie left with her dog, Deaton pulled out one of the talons Scott had broken off of his attacker last night, inspecting under a magnifying glass.

"Find anything?" Scott asked as he returned to the table.

"Maybe," Deaton murmured. "Are you sure this guy was a werewolf?"

Jessie huffed. "Can we really be sure of anything this early? He had werewolf features, but I've never seen a werewolf or blutbad with claws like that. They don't even look like claws to me."

"I would have to agree," Deaton replied. "As far as I can tell, these claws are actually talons. In fact, they're the talons of a harpy eagle, one of the largest known birds of prey."

"How does a werewolf get talons?" Scott asked, brow furrowing together in confusion.

"Personally, I'm more interested in how these talons somehow were able to absorb your power. The only one who should be able to do that is a Beta of your own making," Deaton said.

Scott turned his eyes down. "Someone like Liam."

"Exactly."

"That would never happen," Jessie said. "Liam wouldn't turn on Scott."

Scott was inclined to agree, but still he asked, "And what if I let someone into my pack? Like another Beta?" He looked up to lock eyes with his girlfriend, remembering their conversation about Theo last night after he showed up out of nowhere.

_"_ _Obviously, I don't trust him, Scott," Jessie told him as they got home after Senior Scribe night, sneaking into the house quietly to avoid waking Gavin and possibly Melissa if she was home from work by now. "Didn't the timing seem too convenient for you? He and his family move back to town the night before Senior year, he's a werewolf, and he just so happens to show up right when you and Stiles are attacked by some creature we've never seen before?"_

_"_ _I know what you mean," Scott sighed. "I just don't want to jump to conclusions."_

_"_ _It just all seemed choregraphed somehow," she said as she followed him into his bedroom. "Like it was planned to make him look good. What better way to make a good first impression than to show up and help you fight off a power hungry, bloodthirsty villain?"_

_"_ _I see your point," he admitted. "And I'm not letting him into the pack. If both you and Stiles are this sure that something's not right, then I definitely believe you. I just don't want to start a fight with him if I can avoid it."_

_"_ _I'm not saying we should take him out," Jessie said as she pulled off her clothes to change for bed while he did the same. "We just don't need to take him in like some stray unless we truly know that we can trust him. We've been burned before."_

_"_ _I agree," Scott said as he wandered into his bathroom to wash up. "We'll just humor him, keep our distance, see what happens. We'll act if we need to."_

_Jessie followed him in and started brushing her teeth as he did. They made funny faces at each other in the mirror as they did so before they were done and crawled into bed. Jessie laid her head on his chest, burrowing under the covers. "Thank you for taking me seriously, Scott. I know it's your first instinct to give people the benefit of the doubt. I love that about you. And maybe I've just been burnt out by all we've been through. But my gut feeling says not to trust this guy and those feelings I get have never been wrong. And I don't want anyone to get hurt because we weren't as careful as we could have been."_

_"_ _You don't have to thank me," Scott said as he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "I trust you more than anything. Well, you and Stiles. And my first priority is the safety of our pack. I won't let anything happen to you." I would die for you, went without saying._

_"_ _And I won't let anything happen to you." I would kill anyone who was a threat to you, went without saying._

"I would normally say no..." Deaton's voice brought them back to reality, "...but I'm starting to wonder if the rules to our supernatural world aren't as rigid as I once thought. Or maybe someone's trying to change those rules."

* * *

"Thank you for the ride, again," Lydia told Alex as she got into his truck.

"No problem," he answered gruffly. "You're not far from the loft."

Now that Jessie was living with her family again, Alex started staying at the loft she had with Connor. The men seemed to get along well enough as roommates, even if Connor was a bit put off when Alex accidentally moved the couch across the room while training at the in-loft gym.

"I'll get a mechanic to look at my car, figure out what's wrong with it," she murmured, setting her school bag on the ground.

"I can take a look at it," Alex offered. "Took odd jobs when my dad allowed me to act my actual age when we moved around. Construction, cars, handy man. Stuff like that."

Lydia was a little surprised at the offer. Since being back, Alex wasn't as friendly or as open as he used to be. But in his core, he was still the same Alex – sauberbiest or not. "That'd be great. Maybe after school gets out."

He nodded absentmindedly. "Want me to pick you up?"

She nodded as they neared the school. "I'll text you."

* * *

"I know his family left town around the time Theo was nine or ten, his older sister died in an accident when he was eight," Stiles said, trailing behind his dad into his office at the station.

"Please go to school," his father begged.

"Dad, this kid's a werewolf," Stiles hissed.

"Your best friend is a werewolf," Stilinski whispered back. "You are dating a witch. I still don't know what Kira's supposed to be. When the flying monkeys come soaring through this station, you will have my undivided attention. Until then, just go to school."

Stiles suddenly pursed his lips at his dad. "What did you do?"

Sheriff Stilinski frowned. "What? What do you mean, what did I do?"

"There's something different about you," Stiles murmured, eyeing his father.

"What are you talking about?" he scoffed.

Stiles stepped forward, prodding and sniffing his dad. "What is it? What's different?"

"For the love of God, Stiles, just go to school," he said, pushing Stiles towards the door.

"I will go if you promise to do a full background check of the Raekens," Stiles 'compromised'.

"No. You know what? Just because I'm the only law enforcement officer who knows anything about this, does not make it my responsibility to do something every time you have a minor suspicion," he reiterated.

Stiles frowned, but then suddenly perked up. "Except you're not the only one."

Stilisnki let out a forlorn sigh before calling his deputy, "Parrish!"

* * *

"I can't believe Alec let Parrish bend to your whims," Georgie muttered as she and Stiles met Malia and Kira at the front of the school and ran them up to speed.

"So, you ran a background check, and all you found was a speeding ticket?" Malia asked.

"Speeding ticket signed by Theo's dad eight years ago," Stiles said.

"What's so significant about that?" Kira asked, confused.

"Who speeds? People trying to get away from something," he insisted.

Georgie scoffed. "Stiles, you'd have like seventeen speeding tickets if your dad didn't get you out of them."

"I don't know, Stiles," Malia muttered. "I mean, I see why you're worried. He's really hot. He's got like great hair, perfect body. You should definitely feel threatened."

Stiles stared at her, grabbing Georgie's hand and pulling her closer. "Thank you. Because I do. Now more than ever."

"Oh, your hair's better than his, babe," Georgie cooed, kissing his cheek.

"I have a plan. All right?" he told the girls. "There are steps to doing this right."

"And those steps are?" Kira prompted.

"We get the story. Verify the facts. You find the piece that doesn't fit and... and catch him in the act," Stiles told them. "That's how you do it."

They noticed Theo himself getting out of a car at the drop off, meeting their stares with a friendly expression.

"Why are you so suspicious of this guy?" Malia asked.

Stiles hand tightened around Georgie's as he stared at the foe. "Because I remember Theo from fourth grade. Okay? That's not Theo."

* * *

Beth couldn't keep the amused grin off of her face as Mason eagerly trailed after her and Liam with a large book.

"This is the one I was telling you about. I got it from a rare book dealer in Germany. Cost me two hundred bucks, but it was totally worth it."

"You're still reading about this stuff?" Liam lamented.

"Let him be curious," Beth whispered.

Mason gave him an incredulous look mixed with his excitement. "I was attacked by an armor-plated giant wearing a bear skull. It left an impression. Look. Look. Have you ever seen anything like this?"

Liam blanched at the detailed drawing of the beserkers he'd rather not be reminded of. "Uh, no. Never."

"And then there's this whole section about the Nagual. Have you ever heard of the name Tezcat..."

"Tezcatlipoca," Liam flawlessly pronounced without thinking. Mason looked at him and he backtracked. "No. No, never heard of him."

They finally made it into class and into their seats and Mr. Yukimura started, "All right, welcome to History 103."

* * *

Jessie felt a swell of pride in her as she walked with Scott into AP Biology class. They took seats at a lab station next to one Lydia and Kira were sitting at. Jessie could see out of the corner of her eye them sort of going back and forth before Kira finally leaned her head forward to ask, "Scott? Are you in the right class?"

"AP Biology," he told them.

Lydia slowly asked, "Do you know what AP stands for?"

He amusedly smiled at them. "Advanced Placement." He and Jessie both grinned as the girl's eyes widened as he opened his book and notebook, filled with organized and highlighted detailed notes.

Mrs. Finch stood at the front and immediately dove into course work. "Welcome to AP Biology. Let's see who's awake. Can somebody tell me what plasmids are?"

Lydia immediately answered, "Circular, self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins."

Finch nodded. "Nicely stated, Lydia. Now, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?"

Finally, the genius blanked. "Uh..."

"B-12," Finch said. She turned her attention to Scott. "Mr. McCall, did you know the answer?"

Scott tensed a bit at being singled out. Maybe he and Jessie shouldn't have sat at the front. "Um, no."

She frowned as if he'd personally disappointed her. "It's a common test question. What's your number one college pick?"

"Um..."

"Stop saying um," she cut him off.

He took a breath. "Sorry. UC Davis."

She now nodded in approval. "Good choice. It's the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You're in the right class if that's what you're hoping for." She turned to the room. "Who else thinks they're in the right class?"

A confident hand rose immediately in the back, and they could see Theo grinning in the back. Slowly, the whole class raised their hands. Even as Scott and Jessie shared a wary look over Theo's presence.

"Good. Then you should all be prepared for the test tomorrow."

The class that was confident now all groaned.

"Don't be so disappointed. This test is specifically to help you determine whether you should actually be in AP Biology. You have two weeks to drop. Tomorrow's test will just weed out the ones who shouldn't be here. And that could be any of you."

Jessie didn't like the way her eyes landed on Scott as she said so. They carried through covering the syllabus and the general information that would be covered on the first test before class let out. Jessie lagged a bit behind Scott and the others and stared at Mrs. Finch. "Bullying. Never seen that approach to teaching before."

Mrs. Finch lightly frowned. "Excuse me?"

Jessie just stared, and deadpanned, "No," before leaving to catch up with Scott. She grabbed his hand as he headed outside for their free period – for her it was a free day really – and said, "Don't let her get to you. You've worked so hard to get here; you'll be a terrific vet. You're so good with the animals, and you already know what you're doing most of the time. She must want people to fail so she can seem like such a hard ass or something."

Scott sighed as he sat down on some outdoor steps, setting his pile of books aside. "If I didn't have my genius girlfriend helping me study, I probably wouldn't have been able to sign up for AP Bio."

"Yes, you would have," she said, bumping her shoulder into his before laying her head on it. "You started your academic turnaround before we got together. And you know what you want this time. You have a passion for your future, you just have to put in the work. And this is work worth doing."

"Have you thought about your future career?" he asked curiously.

"I know I'll major in history, just don't exactly know what I'll turn that into," she murmured before they were interrupted by a spastic Stiles coming over.

"Hey! You. You're coming with me. Come on."

"We've got a free period," Scott complained.

"So do I. And so does Theo Raeken. Let's go," he said, pulling them along. They tracked down the sketchy new werewolf and dragged him to the locker room.

"I was skating in a neighbor's empty pool, trying to do a handplant. Nobody was home. I'm not that good of a skateboarder, but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time. I didn't even realize that was night until the yard lights came on. Like I said, I wasn't very good. On my last try I went down and hit hard. Really hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool and I realized something. I never heard the board come back down. It came at me fast. I barely had a chance to turn around before it bit me. Right here." He pointed at his side.

"It wasn't an accident. He wanted to turn you," Scott said.

"Right. So why aren't you part of his pack then? Why didn't he come back for you?" Stiles interrogated.

"Because by the time of my first full moon, he was dead," Theo said.

"How did you know that?"

"I met another one of his pack a couple weeks later. He told me the Alpha that bit me was killed by two of his own Betas. They were twins." Scott, Stiles, and Jessie all shared a look, remembering Aiden and Ethan. "Scott, listen to my pulse. I'm telling the truth."

"Right. Or you just know how to steady your heart rate while you're lying your ass off," Stiles insisted.

"We've seen people do that before," Jessie added, reminding Scott with her eyes – _Gerard_.

"Why would I lie?" Theo asked, frustrated.

"Because maybe you're not who you say you are," Stiles almost yelled.

Theo sighed through his nose. "Okay. In the fourth grade you had an inhaler, I had one too. I remember this day where I ended up in the nurse's office with an asthma attack. A bad one. I was waiting to be taken to the ER. You were waiting for the Principal. You told me what would happen when you go to the ER for asthma. How they give you oxygen, an IV of prednisone. You made it sound easy. Like everything would be okay. I've been by myself this whole time. Everybody knows that lone wolves, they don't make it on their own. I swear I'm that same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you are too." The bell rang above their heads. "I better not be late for class. You're not the only ones I need to make a good impression on."

"I don't trust him," Stiles muttered.

"I know," Scott said. "I can't really put my finger on what's wrong though."

"Leave that to our resident detective," Jessie said, giving Stiles a look.

Stiles perked up. "Maybe I'll bring in my apprentice too."

"Where's Georgie?" she asked as the three of them left the locker room.

"Lydia dragged her off to help Tracy with some nightmare problem," he said. "Luckily, all of our girlfriends are way smarter than we are."

* * *

Parrish looked around Tracy's room after hearing descriptions of her nightmares about an intruder in her skylight. "I don't see any signs of an attempted forced entry. The latch seems okay. You said something about birds, Tracy?"

"The bird was at the skylight. The one that woke me up," the shaken girl said, gesturing up to the window in her ceiling.

"Can I take a look?" he asked. She nodded and he pulled out a chair to stand up and inspect it as the three girls watched. "Tracy, you said the skylight was sealed for weatherproofing."

"Yeah. Why?" the girl asked.

He wordlessly pushed the skylight open with ease. Tracy frowned in fear and looked down. Parrish pushed his head up and peaked out.

"Do you see anything?" Georgie asked as Lydia comforted Tracy.

He started getting down, closing the skylight. He took his Tracy's shaken form. "No. Nothing."

Once they left the house, Jordan told them the truth about seeing a group of dead birds on the roof that looked like they'd been trying to peck their way into Tracy's room. Georgie shivered at the image, remembering an army of birds attacking their classroom last year. She could feel the shattered glass falling around her.

"I can't do anything official right now, but I can come back after my shift tonight and watch the house for a couple of hours," Jordan offered.

"Okay, I'll meet you here," Georgie said. She didn't want to risk anything happening to him before he could help free her sister, Sonia, from the Nemeton where the witches' council had banished her. And she also figured it was time to tell him about all of that.

Jordan gave her an indulgent smile, looking like a big brother to her. "I think I'll be okay."

"But this is your own time," Lydia pointed out.

"I wouldn't do it if I didn't think something strange was going on," he told them. "I also owe you both."

"For what?" Lydia asked.

"Three weeks of digging through every piece of old literature and mythology trying to figure out the something strange going on with me," he told them, as if was obvious.

"But we never figured it out," Lydia pointed out.

"I don't have to worry about school," Georgie said. "I can bring you coffee and conversation. There's also something I'd like to talk to you about."

Parrish let out a not-so-frustrated sigh and said, "Medium Americano. Black."

* * *

"So, you think something's up with this Tracy girl?" Alex asked Lydia as he looked under her hood. And that was not a euphemism.

"Parrish found dead birds littering her roof outside a skylight that's supposed to have been sealed for weatherproofing years ago," the genius strawberry blonde pointed out, sitting off to the side in her garage. "Given what happened on scribe night, I'm not willing to count these things as coincidences."

"As you shouldn't, there's no such thing," he agreed, his eyes carrying on their inspection. "Especially not in a place like Beacon Hills. The problem is, how do we put all the pieces together before the big bad picture emerges?"

"With our usual pluck and tripping around in the dark," Lydia quipped.

"Hand me that," he changed the subject, gesturing to a tool he'd laid out on a towel on the ground.

Lydia pursed her lips and picked it up, handing it over. She watched curiously as he worked. "How'd you learn this stuff anyway? On the job?"

"Mostly," he grunted as he worked. "Had to know the basics before getting a job. Used to work on the family cars back when we couldn't afford to take them in or anything. I think."

"You think?" Lydia repeated dubiously.

"Hand me that one," he said, switching out his tool for another.

Lydia wisely didn't push the question again. "Do you think it's possible that Tracy isn't really dreaming? Or that her dreams are becoming real?"

"I'd say anything's possible at this point," he said. "Except for Father Christmas – sorry to break it to you."

Lydia rolled her eyes with a smile.

* * *

"So, you found something?" Malia asked as Stiles found her, Scott, Jessie, and Kira at a table in the library.

"Another signature," he said, slapping two pieces of paper on the table. "This is Theo's dad's signature on a speeding ticket from eight years ago. And this is his dad's signature on a transfer form to Beacon Hills High School from just a few days ago."

"How did you get his transfer form?" Kira asked.

Scott gave his friend a look. "Did you break into the Administration Office?"

"No, I did not break into the Administration Office," he denied. But by all their looks of disbelief, they weren't buying it. "Okay, I might have broken into the Administration Office. Can we just focus on the signatures, please? They're different."

Jessie and the others peered at them. "Stiles, we didn't grow up analyzing signatures. Tell us what you're seeing."

"They're completely different," he insisted. He pointed out the differences with his fingers. "Come on. Look. The garlands don't match, the undulations of the sinuous stroke are totally off. And look, look at this. Perfect example of the Criminal Tremor."

"So now, Theo is Theo, but his parents aren't his parents?" Kira asked.

"Someone's not someone," Stiles said. "And when I figure out who that someone really is, someone's in big trouble."

"We can't do anything until we know all the facts, Stiles," Jessie cut in. "If we act blind, who knows what contingency plan there is."

"You really think Theo is bad?" Kira asked her.

"I know I get a bad feeling from him," Jessie told her. "And my feelings have been stronger and more accurate since I turned. I can't ignore them. And none of us should ignore Stiles. He's figured out basically everything when it comes to the enemy. Matt being evil, the trifold deaths being sacrifices, the importance of the Nemeton… Hell, he even figured out Scott was turned into a werewolf before his first full moon!"

Stiles gave Jessie a glowing smile. She was right.

"Jessie's right," Scott said in complete agreement. "Stiles and Jessie are my best friends and have never steered me wrong. I trust both of them completely. I may not have Stiles' investigative mind or Jessie's feelings, but I have them for that. But I don't think we should let on too much that we don't trust Theo until we know what he's planning. Jessie's right, if we go in blind, he could have a backup plan that leads to us getting hurt."

"Okay, but I'm not gonna stop trying to figure this out," Stiles insisted.

"Good, don't," Scott told his friend. "Just be careful."

* * *

"Just tell him," Beth told her boyfriend as he got ready to meet Liam at the school gym to work out. "You've been putting it off for way too long. I know you're worried he'll freak out or won't want to be your friend anymore, but you've seen how excited he is about reading about this stuff."

"It's not easy to just come out and say it," he countered.

"He watched the Sheriff blow up a beserker in the school basement, I highly doubt he won't believe you," she pointed out. When she saw how worried he still looked, he stepped forward and took his hand, squeezing. "Liam, I promise it's not going to be that bad. Jessie and the others, they've been through this. With me and others. It's always better when we know."

"Let's go before I change my mind," he said. They quickly made it to the gym just in time to meet Mason in front of the school.

The teen smiled gracefully. "Hey, Beth, you joining?"

"I'm here to enjoy the views," she said teasingly. She shoved her elbow into Liam's side, signaling him to get on with it.

"I have to tell you something," Liam said, clearing his throat. "Actually, I have to tell you a lot of things. A lot of hard to believe things. Really hard to believe."

While he spoke, Mason's eyes had widened at something over his shoulder. "There's a wolf."

"Yeah, I'm getting to that."

But Beth looked behind them to see a real wolf, black fur and blue eyes, behind them. She shoved her elbow in Liam's side again. "Liam…"

Liam turned to see what they were seeing. "That's a wolf."

The wolf growled and snarled at them, baring its teeth. The three of them took off for the school, running away from the beast. Mason and Beth took up the lead, getting up some stairs, when Liam stopped. Liam turned towards the wolf and transformed, letting out his claws and fangs as he roared at the canine.

Mason and Beth watched as the wolf tucked tail and ran away. Beth could feel Mason's eyes widening as he watched his friend transform back to human.

Liam inwardly cringed at what Mason witnessed and what he must be thinking. "There's something I gotta tell you."

Mason adopted a big grin. "You're a werewolf."

Beth hummed, "That was easy." She gave Liam a smug grin. "Told you so."

* * *

"How's the stakeout going?" Georgie asked as she handed Deputy Parrish his coffee.

He took a sip. "As far as I can tell, no one's gone in and no one's come out."

"Sorry this has been a waste of time," she apologized, eyeing the dark house.

"I'm just glad Tracy's okay," he assured her.

"There is something I have to talk to you about…" she trailed off, wondering where to start. Witches, her sister trapped in a tree stump, or the concept of soulmates. "I just wanted to wait until the time was right. It's probably more unbelievable than everything else you've already seen. Especially when I have no way to prove it to you."

"Considering everything I've seen with you guys, I think I can keep an open mind," Jordan told her with an encouraging grin.

Georgie let out a slow sigh and geared herself up for the whole conversation. "So, you know I'm a witch. And so is my sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister," Jordan frowned.

Georgie looked down, tears welling in her eyes. She really missed Sonia. She hoped Jordan was the one who could bring her back. "A while ago… we got in some trouble. Sonia was trapped in this tree – well, stump – called the Nemeton."

"I'm sorry," Jordan said, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Nemeton… I've heard that word before."

"It used to be the center of a grove of trees. A sacred meeting place for Celtic Druids. They were scientists and healers thousands of years ago. It's also sacred to witches," Georgie explained. "Sonia protected it. That's why it was chosen as her prison."

"There's no way to get her out?" Jordan asked.

Georgie brushed away a tear on her cheek. "Nothing _I_ can do. She can get herself out if she's strong enough. But the nemeton takes power. I don't think just her powers would be enough to free herself. The only thing that could possibly be strong enough to free her is her… unum."

Jordan was puzzled. "Unum?"

"It's means 'one'," Georgie looked up to him. "Witches, we… have soulmates. That's the easiest way to explain it. An unum bond is the most powerful thing in the world. Our world anyway. It can't be severed by anything."

"So, your sister's soulmate could free her," Jordan surmised. "Do you know who they are? Was she dating someone?"

Georgie shook her head. "My sister's basically raised me since I was four. She hasn't done anything for herself, let alone date. But… I'm pretty sure I know who her unum is."

"Who?"

"Um… you…" Georgie murmured, awkwardly blushing.

Jordan couldn't hide his shock, brows furrowed and mouth agape. "Me?"

Georgie mentally planned how to explain her theory to him. "The moment you and I met, you felt like family. Like part of my coven. We're linked together. It's not like my bond with Stiles, but it's strong. And the only explanation is that you'd be my sister's one, thus part of our coven. I know it sounds absurd—"

"No, it doesn't," he cut her off softly. "I thought it would be creepy to say so, but I kind of felt close to you too. Just figured it was another unexplainable thing about Beacon Hills. But if what you're saying is true… then it makes sense."

"You're not freaked out?" Georgie asked him.

Jordan made a face. "Maybe about the soulmate part. If I'm being honest. I haven't really been in the dating game. Married to the job and all that."

"You sound just like her," Georgie quipped. "I could tell you all about her if you like. Until we get her back."

"I'd like that," he murmured quietly. His face was thoughtful for a moment before he asked her something. "This stump… is it, really big? And looks like it's a thousand years old?"

Georgie gave him a look. "Yeah, why?"

Jordan pursed his lips. "Just, there's this dream I have. I've had it here and there for about six months. I'm walking in the woods, carrying a body. But it's completely burned. I can't see who it is or who it was."

"Where are you taking the body?" Georgie whispered.

"A clearing," he told her. "There's a huge tree in the middle of it that's been cut down. It's just a stump. I've never seen this place."

"The nemeton," Georgie supplied. "It drew you here. That's what it does. It's a beacon for supernatural creatures. It might even make them more powerful. What happens when you get to the stump with the body?"

Jordan stared off into the night as he told her, "I put the body down... I... I lay it down on the rings of the trees and..."

"What?" Georgie asked when he paused.

He lightly shook his head and turned back to her, seemingly normal. "Nothing. That's it. That's the end of the dream."

* * *

The Sheriff trudged tiredly through his house on the way to his room, stopping at his son's open door. It was past midnight and Stiles was up at his murder board, writing down Theo's name.

"Usually, we wait until they do something wrong before we declare them guilty."

"Well, he's guilty of something," Stiles said, certain.

"Accusations require proof. And proof always trumps instinct. It has to," the elder said wisely. He had his instincts too. But he could never act on them without actual proof.

"I know, Dad."

"Let it go, Stiles. Get some sleep," the man begged, starting to leave for his own bed.

"Hey, Dad," stopped him in his tracks.

"Mmm-hmm."

Stiles slowly approached his father. "I got it. There's something different. I know what it is."

"Okay."

"You're not wearing your wedding ring anymore," Stiles said softly, gesturing to his father's bare hand resting on the doorframe.

The Sheriff slowly followed his gaze, taking in the tan line around his ring finger. It had been time. And it was also such a small thing for Stiles to notice the way he did. "You're sure this kid's guilty?"

"Absolutely."

"Then all you gotta do is wait," he said. "If they're really guilty, eventually, they make a mistake. They always make a mistake."


End file.
